A thread on recovering battle-damaged vehicles: Sometimes my research involves searching through endless pages of Chinese propaganda, but at other times I get to read things like combat reports from US Stryker Bdes. The following is based on the latter. /1 
Strykers deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 with the expectation that they would replicate the successes achieved in Iraq five years earlier. "they had forged a reputation . . . for moving fast and attacking enemy strongholds all over” that country. /2
To be sure, the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment,
nicknamed the Buffaloes, deployed to the Arghandab River Valley and managed to "shrink the battlespace" with their speed of manoeuvre and the sheer quantity of dismounted infantry, which came as a surprise to the Taliban. /3
nicknamed the Buffaloes, deployed to the Arghandab River Valley and managed to "shrink the battlespace" with their speed of manoeuvre and the sheer quantity of dismounted infantry, which came as a surprise to the Taliban. /3
However, there was a serious shortcoming in the vehicle's use. The IED threat had been under-appreciated, and during the unit's first contact an engineering Stryker fitted with a mine-roller struck an IED. "The explosion destroyed all eight tires and injured two engineers." /4
"The engineers were on edge as they continued searching, but had only traveled about 50 feet when another Stryker triggered a second IED." The 1-17 was successful in the ensuing contact but was forced to guard the damaged vehicles until Canadian recovery units arrived. /5
They had practiced recovering vehicles but could only do so if two wheels remained intact, however, IEDs typically destroyed all eight. A fact known to the Canadians, who had practiced this since 2006. The 1-17 was eventually provided with flatbeds and wreckers for recovery. /6
In another attack, an IED killed several soldiers inside a Stryker. Once again, the force had to remain in place guarding the vehicle overnight, as an Angel Flight and recovery vehicles could not be made available until morning. /7
During the night, insurgents were spotted and engaged as they tried to lay another IED: "In multiple cases recovery became a major tactical operation. The enemy almost invariably targeted Americans securing an inoperable Stryker, forcing them to fight a defensive battle." /8
Where am I going with this? Well, insurgencies and IEDs aren't going away so this is a threat that will likely remain. One potential response could be unmanned recovery vehicle teams in various configurations. /9
One possibility could be a leader-follower platoon, with a dual purpose unmanned leader vehicle, capable of recovery operations, but also of leading an armoured convoy. Perhaps a truck with the Interim Stryker Recovery System? truhitch.com/images/ISRS_Ge… /10
Or perhaps a smaller tracked UGV with a high tractive pull capability such as demonstrated here would be capable of performing this role as well as some armed reconnaissance?
This would save manpower in the immediate sense, and also provide a mobile formation with the means to immediately extract itself if contacted, without having to wait overnight for recovery. /11
It could also be used to enable a tactical withdrawal and send the unmanned system forward to recover a vehicle under fire, without risking additional personnel and vehicles to IEDs and enemy fire. /12
I think such an arrangement would be a luxury to be sure, but we can see from Syria and elsewhere that insurgents have only increased in lethality since 2009, it stands to reason that a guard formation left overnight could be severely mauled, or require much heavier support. /13
So, as we continue to explore the issue of manned/unmanned teamings for land warfare, perhaps this is one angle to explore? Afghanistan has shown that rudimentary effects can deny mobility and freedom of movement very easily and for a long time. /14
As most countries are looking to highly mobile and more "fluid" forces for their future force structure, maintaining mobility, or at least avoiding the above scenarios may well grow in importance. END.
